classify() for alternating rows, columns, etc.

moneypenny () — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:00:13 GMT

I often want different rows in a table to alternate in color, and I do this by assigning each row a class name and styling it with CSS. This is a simple helper method designed to return a class name based on the given row count.

It is also convenient for me to assign a class to table cells based on the type of content they hold. For example, if I have a cell with a float value in it, I want to display it with a monospace font, whereas if I have a cell with a string in it, I want to display it in a serif font.

# Determines the CSS class based on either the count given

# (returns 'even' or 'odd' as the CSS class name) or the class

# given (returns the string version of the class, lowercased,

# as the CSS class name)

def classify( count_or_class, include_class_text = true )

  if count_or_class.class == Fixnum

    value = ( count_or_class % 2 == 0 ? 'even' : 'odd' )

  else

    value = count_or_class.to_s.downcase

  end



  if include_class_text

    'class="' << value << '"'

  else

    value

  end

end

Example usage with alternating 'even'/'odd' row class names:


<% count = 0 %>

<% @collection.each do |value| %>

>



  <% count += 1 %>

<% end %>


      <%=h value %>

Example usage with data type class names:



<% @columns.each do |column| %>

  <% data = row.send( column.name ) %>

  >

    <%=h data %>

  

<% end %>

Alternating table row colours the Rails way

hammed (Hammed) — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 05:38:42 GMT

There are several ways of doing this but it's best to use functionality built into Rails:

">
... use item ...

API reference:
http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionView/Helpers/TextHelper.html#M000423

DZone Snippets: alternate code

classify() for alternating rows, columns, etc.

Alternating table row colours the Rails way